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A Scottish family believe their pet black cat is responsible for saving their teenager’s life, reports now.msn.com.

Maria Gillon, 13, from Midlothian, suffers from ventricular tachycardia, which more than doubles her heart rate and gives her crippling chest pains.

The condition can be critical if Maria’s heart stops beating, especially when she is asleep at night in her room. However, in previous attacks, the Gillons pet black cat Perla has nibbled the toes of her mother Adele to alert her so that she can call an ambulance.

Ms Gillon, 32, told dailymail.co.uk about the duo’s special relationship. She said: “Perla and Maria are inseparable. She even sleeps in Maria’s bed and stays with her through the night.”

The mother continued: “If Maria has an attack, which can last up to 40 minutes, where she will be in such severe pain that she can’t speak or move, Perla will come into my bedroom and jump on me and bite my toes until I wake up.

The Gillon family have had Perla since she was just eight weeks old, however they could have lost her earlier this year when the moggy came through their cat flap with a bruised and bleeding eye after being run over.

After a successful treatment though, Perla was so back home and protecting over Maria again.

Andrew Hogg, a veterinary surgeon at the PDSA PetAid hospital in Edinburgh, who treated Perla, said it was not often he met such as clever cat.